REMARKS BY

PERMANENT SECRETARY IN THE MINISTRY OF

ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES AND CLIMATE CHANGE

MR. RONALD SMITH-BERKELEY

ON THE OCCASION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF THE MEMBERS OF THE

SECOND BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS

CLIMATE CHANGE TRUST FUND

TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2023

10:00 A.M.

I acknowledge the protocol already established

My main focus here this morning is to say a brief word of welcome, particularly to you the members of the Climate Change Trust Fund Board for offering yourselves to serve this our beloved territory in this capacity.

We understand that each of you has quite a lot going on in your own personal lives and respective business, but you are still willing and ready to serve. We appreciate that you are cognizant of the enormity of the task before you, having been placed in a positon where you have to balance your own personal affairs and the very important and critical work of the Trust, but you are here and willing and ready to serve.

There is no doubt the planet is in trouble; it needs our collective help. It is a given that everything changes, nothing remains the same. Like everything else, earth’s climate has changed and continues to change.

According to NASA, earth’s current warming is happening at a rate not seen in the past 10,000 years. According to the Panel on Climate Change, since the 1970s the influence of human activity on the warming of the climate system has evolved from theory to established fact.

The planet’s average surface temperature has risen about 2 degrees Fahrenheit, most of which occurred in the past 40 years. As a matter of fact, the years 2016 and 2020 are tied for the warmest year on record to date.

The global sea level rose about 8 inches in the last century and the rate in the last two decades, is nearly double that of the last century and accelerating slightly every year. We have to act and act quickly. While our carbon footprint is negligible, when compared to other jurisdictions across the globe, small island nations and territories are caught in a cruel paradox: they are collectively responsible for less than one percent of the global carbon emissions, but will suffer the greatest effects.

We must act with purpose, determination and a sense of urgency.

 Again I say welcome and thank you for your willingness to serve.